


The Sharp Night

by Primrose_Chase_Foster



Series: Sharp Night [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24902818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Primrose_Chase_Foster/pseuds/Primrose_Chase_Foster
Summary: Lila Barton has lost five years of her life after Thanos's Snap. But thanks to the Avengers she is back... to a world in crisis. Her father became an assassin, people are tired and confused, and on top of that she has powers that she can't even control! When her friends mom gets into trouble that's over her head Lila must decide who to trust.
Series: Sharp Night [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801957
Kudos: 1





	The Sharp Night

Chapter 1  
The First Mission  
“I’m sorry Ms. Travis, but there is no proof.” states the jury.   
“He did it! He did it! I know he did! He killed my fiance because he’s been arrested for stealing! He did it! Charge him for murder!” Screams the woman. Her lawyer tries to calm the screeching red head down without luck.   
This was the fifth trial, I keep waiting for them to find him guilty. But each kill has been clean, not an ounce of evidence found. Everyone suspected that their former superhero had gone crazy, but no one could find the proof to charge him of homicide.   
“What Ms. Travis is saying,” the flustered lawyer tells the judge, “is that Clint Barton did it and the truth will come out. He will be charged for murder.”   
“And I have the proof!” The lawyer looks at Ms. Travis with surprise and the two have a whisper conversation, the only sound in the room. Because of my bad hearing I can’t hear what they are saying. It seems heated and intense.  
The lawyer looks agitated as Ms. Travis tells the judge, “You can read his emails. They prove that Ronin did not like him and that he was terrified the hooded killer would get him.”   
“We would be very much interested in that.” States the judge.  
“Objection, Your Honor!” Shouts my dad’s lawyer.   
“Overruled.”   
After hours of pouring over the evidence the jury meets again and states that the evidence was not enough to put my father behind bars. I can tell by their looks that some of them aren’t happy about it. Most of the world hates my father, he used to be cool, but after he freaked out when his family disappeared for five years in the Snap he has lost all respect. 

No one says anything until we are back home and eating dinner. Today was horrible. My father was tried for homicide, despite being found not guilty and let go, my whole family knows that someday our luck will run out. It’s been six months, so far no evidence has been able to put him in jail, but the fear and tension of it all has been weighing on everyone except little Nathaniel.   
“Daddy, what do you think the people will do to you?” Asks Nathaniel while taking a bite of his hotdog (with mayo, who puts mayo on a hotdog?)   
My mom gives Dad a worried look. One I’ve been seeing a lot of lately.   
“With all he’s done I doubt it will be good.” I snort.   
“Lila!” My mom rebukes.   
“What, it’s true!”   
“It doesn’t mean you should say stuff like that!”   
“What does she mean, Mama?” Asks my little brother.   
“She doesn’t mean anything, Little One. Your father will be just fine. The judge will find him not guilty and we can go back to living life like normal.”   
“I don’t want it to be like normal. I don’t want to have to live in hiding! Can’t I have some friends?”   
“Of course,” There’s that nervous glance at my father again, “but it might take some time. Things are very different now. We have to be careful where we go and how we talk.”   
“So you can keep an even tighter grip on us than before?” I challenge.   
“Lila!” my dad warns.   
“What?” I snap. “We could never go anywhere, that was when our dad was a hero. Now he’s a villain, and we just have to live here as though nothing is wrong? I’m tired of it! I’m tired of you keeping me away from my life!”   
“We aren’t doing that! We love you and want to protect you, that’s why we don’t let you go places!” my dad sternly states.   
“No, if you really loved me you would let me be a regular teenager, it’s not my fault my dad is a superhero!” I stomp up the stairs and slam my door.   
I can hear my mom sigh downstairs.   
An hour later my dad comes in.   
I’m lying on my bed, my back towards him. He sits on the edge of my bed. “I’m sorry if your mom and I seem suffocating sometimes. But we do it to protect you guys. Because we love you. With all our hearts, we love you. I hope you know that. If you feel angry you should talk to your mom and I, we want to try and understand how you feel, but you can’t say it in front of the rest of the family.”   
“Why?” I counter. “So Nathaniel doesn’t get any ideas that we aren’t the perfect family he thought we were?”   
All my dad does is sigh. “No, we aren’t.”   
“At least you know.”   
“I know you’re mad at me for what I did during the Snap. And I regret it too. Everyday I try to fix my mistakes, but I keep digging myself into a deeper hole. And everything I do reflects back to you guys. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a superhero. That every decision I made didn’t ride on you guys. That I could just enjoy a vacation without wondering if the world was about to die without me.”  
I roll over to look at him. He really has grown in the five years since I’ve seen him. More wrinkles. When I first saw him after the Snap I didn’t understand how he could look so tough yet broken at the same time. So… Snapped. That’s what the snap did to him, it snapped him.   
“Yeah, Dad, but you’ve tried taking breaks before. You can’t.”   
His eyes crinkle and he pats my leg and says, “I guess you're right, Kiddo. I can’t take breaks or retire without the world going to pieces.”   
When he leaves I roll on my back and stare at the ceiling.   
I close my eyes and try to focus on something insignificant, something, something…. Something…. It’s no use. My brain keeps going back to the Snap. Everything had just… vanished. All of a sudden I was dust floating in the air. And when I came to it again?  
I was sitting in the grass in my front lawn. Nathaniel and Cooper were sitting across from me and Mom sluggishly exited the house. Everyone moved at the speed of sloths and when I spoke they all told me to slow down, I was babbling and no one knew a word of what I was saying. When I slowed down everything was normal speed again. That was when I first realized I had powers. Thankfully my fast talking could be excused by my panic attack that I experienced as soon as I understood how much I really had no idea what was going on.   
Mom called Dad, wondering where he was and what was going on, but he never picked it up.   
Eventually he did come home though. After hours. And then Dad told us what had happened. Everything. Thanos. The Snap. Undoing the Snap. Iron Man wearing the gauntlet. It wasn’t until the next day that I found out my father did not tell us everything. He had thought it better to discuss with Mom what to tell us of what he did after the Snap.   
I just can’t get over how much I’ve missed. It’s been six months since I came back, but I never get any less confused.   
I roll over and watch The Office on my iPad until I can’t keep my eyelids open any longer. 

“Look, I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you yesterday to have lunch, my mom was busy.” apologizes my best friend, Emilynn.   
My forehead creases. “What was she doing?” It’s not really a secret that Emilynn’s mom doesn’t care for her as well as she could. Ever since Emilynn’s dad died in a boating accident (he was in the Navy) Emilynn’s mom has been a busybody, trying to mask her pain with a cluttered life. I’ve been seeing that a lot more in people's lives compared to before the Snap.   
Emilynn shrugs, “I don’t really know. She said she was working an extra shift. But I’m pretty sure she lost her job two weeks ago. Well, no, actually, Lila, I’m pretty sure she never got a job. It was just two weeks ago that I realized it.”   
“And you didn’t tell me?” I complain.   
“I know, I know, I'm super sorry ok. It’s just, you were busy and all.”   
Five months ago Emilynn’s mom lost her job working at a diner, she claimed to have found another one working at an Olive Garden an hour out of town. But according to Emilynn, she never got that new job.   
I look around to make sure no kids are around us as we walk towards class, “Then where do you think she was?”   
With a gulp Emilynn says, “I have no idea.”   
“Okay, well… if she ever runs off again, tell me.”   
She nods her head in understanding and we go to class.   
Ever since I came back from Snap weird things have happened. Emilynn and I have come to the conclusion that I have powers. It’s weird, it’s as though time stops, or at least slows, and I can move regularly, but everything else is slow. It makes me feel like another Quicksilver. 

“Jab, jab, Lila, jab!” My PE teacher yells at me. I reach out to jab Candec’s left side, but she was expecting the move and grabs my wrist. She twists it around and pins my arm behind my back until I’m gasping.   
All the kids in my PE are yelling at me to tap out, Candec has clearly won this time. I look over at Mrs. Bradley, my stout but fierce dark skinned Hawaiian PE teacher. She just barely shakes her head when our eyes meet. The kids around me are counting down, “8, 7….”   
Candec’s hold isn’t too tight, looking back I’m not sure how I did it, but I squirm out of her grasp and punch her squarely in the jaw. She flies backwards and lands with her back against the mat.   
I pull on her arm until she taps out.   
There are a few cheers around the room, but most of the kids don’t like me. For a plethora of reasons that maybe you’ll learn about later.   
When she gets up I realize Candec has a split lip and I sincerely apologize. Apparently it wasn’t sincere enough because she responds, “What, did your dad teach you that move?” I’ve been bullied my whole life for being a recluse (I’m not, people just think I am) and for having hearing aids. But six months ago I also started being bullied for my father’s work during the time of the snap. Not that it was work…   
Mrs. Bradley comes up to me after Candec walks away, “You know, you’re really starting to get good at hand to hand combat.”   
“Thanks,” I beam, “Oh, by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you, could you ever teach me some of your knife throwing skills?”   
“Ms. Barton, I cannot teach you in the school, it’s against its policies. However maybe we could meet at a shooting range outside of class, so as long as your parents approve. Maybe if it works out I could learn some of your archery.”   
“I’m- not really that good. But I’ll ask my parents if you can teach me knife throwing, that’s one thing my dad can’t teach me!”   
A shadow passes through Mrs. Bradley’s eyes, I don’t know how she feels about my dad, I just know she is one of the few people in this school who hasn’t held it against me. Or said anything about it. All she says is, “I hope that works out sometime.” 

After school I hung out with Emilynn at her house. It’s partly to hang out and partly because Emilynn knows her mom is leaving tonight and I’m supposed to follow her.   
We enjoy orange chicken and after dinner Emilynn’s mom (her name is Jesi) leaves.   
As soon as the front door of the apartment is closed Emilynn is tugging on my arm, begging me to follow her mom.   
“Of course I will, it’s a part of the plan. Anyways, if I can’t get a name for myself how am I supposed to join the Avengers?” I ask, grabbing my stuff.   
“Well, I think even if you did have a name for yourself, you could never join the Avengers. You realize your father would have to be in his grave before you can join them? And even then he might not let you!”   
“True.” I say, pulling on my black hoodie and slipping my sheath of arrows over my shoulder.   
“Stay out of trouble, okay?”   
“You asked me to join trouble.” I respond. I silently slip out of the apartment.   
Can I just say, thank goodness Jesi is walking. Otherwise I have no clue how I would have followed her.   
My stomach turns as Jesi slips into a dark alleyway. I watch her before following myself. It’s a dead end and I scramble behind two trash cans to watch the scene play out. This is what I saw and heard:  
“You have the serum?” Asks a heavily tattooed bald man with muscles the size of freight trains (eww.)   
“Do you have the money?” Asks Jesi.   
“I do. Give us the serum first.” That was the first time I noticed his accomplices. Two men (also bald) standing on either side of him. They looked trashy, and both carried guns, but the guns were still in their belt.   
“No. I need to see the money.”   
Freight Train stepps forward and creepily lowers his voice, “And we want to see the serum.”   
“Money first.” Jesi bravely responds, but I notice the small tremors in her hands when I focus and watch the world in slow mo.   
Freight Train laughs and takes another step towards Jesi, “Did you hear that boys? She thinks she can call the shots. But she can’t. Wasn’t it just last week she asked for out? Well we got more buyers, You got a serum that works you can’t keep it to yourself.”   
You have to admire Jesi’s bravery as she speaks, “I wouldn’t keep it for myself, I would stop making it!”   
“Well you can’t!” Even Freight Train’s henchmen jumped at the shout.   
“You’re too deep into this! You think, you can just leave? You’re too deep. You know too much, us people in the underground, we try to make our names unknown. You had the unfortunate disadvantage of not knowing that, so you told everyone your real name! If you stop making this serum you have people knocking on your door begging for the answer to their miserable lives. And when you refuse them the one thing that could save them they will start asking for your pretty little blonde haid on a platter. Then what would happen to you? And didn’t you say you have a daughter? What would happen to her?”   
I’ve never seen Jesi so scared (but who can blame her?) as she replies, “No.”   
That was when things got bad. The henchmen pulled out their guns and pointed them at Jesi.   
“Say that again? And this is your last chance, woman!” Freight Train tells her.  
“No.” I’m by Jesi’s side, bow raised before she finishes the word.   
The bullets fly.   
I push Jesi to the ground and before anyone can blink the two men are on the ground, crying in agony. An arrow stuck out of each of their calves.   
“Let her out of the deal and maybe you can leave this place alive.” I tell Freight Train, my arrow pointed at his heart.   
“I’m not so stupid that I wouldn’t carry a gun.”   
“And I’m not so stupid as to overlook that.” Actually, I was. But I didn’t have to worry about the guns, it’s easy to dodge bullets.   
“But it’s behind you, in your waistband. You make a move and this arrow finds its place. And I promise you, you won’t be happy about it.”   
“Try it.”   
The bow snaps. I watch the arrow wiz like it does in the movies, spinning, flying, piercing, right into the man’s shoulder. “That was a stupid thing to say.” I tell him. “You should watch your ego.”   
Jesi sits up on her knees, mouth wide open. She can’t seem to find what to say though.   
I help her up and we walk back down the alley.   
“Come on.” We walk into Black Bear Diner and I order a milkshake. “Do you want anything?” I ask Jesi.   
For the first time she speaks, “I’ll have some green tea.”   
When the waiter walks away she asks me, “What… happened back there?”   
“We both have some explaining, I guess. I- I helped you. I followed you out and listened to what happened. When they pulled out their guns I rushed to your side.”   
“But- how did you get there so fast?”   
Uhh… I draw a blank at what I could possibly say to throw her off the truth. I start to say, “You must have blinked,” when she asks, “Do you have superhuman powers?”   
“Yes.” I wince, I had been planning to lie, but I told the truth. I am such an idiot. I hate myself.   
“Who all knows?”   
I sigh. “Just you and Emilynn.”   
I can see all the thoughts and questions going through Jesi’s mind, it’s almost as though I can read her thoughts and trace their origins. So I know what conclusion she will come to before she says it.   
“You have to keep it all a secret because of your father.” I nod my head. “He would try too hard to protect you, take away the few freedoms you have. It could kill him.” She’s right. In a way it would. He knows first hand the weight of being a superhero, being famous, he would come home so often after a mission tired and worn.   
“Because of Tony. Because of Natasha.” she says, figuring this all out for herself.   
I duck my head to hide the crevice that still lies in my heart. I try not to think about Aunt Nat lying at the bottom of a cliff… I shake myself and focus on the present.   
“So what is your power?” she questions.   
I sigh, “I’m fast. Super fast. I can watch in slow motion, and I can move normally while everything I watch is slow. It doesn’t feel like I’m fast, Emilynn was the one who told me I was super fast, which made sense.”   
“When did your powers develop?”   
“After the Snap. I came back and all of a sudden… everything was slow and I was fast.”   
“So you are watching this moment slowly?”   
I shake my head, “No, I can turn it on and off. If I’m fast, I see slow, if I see slow, I’m fast. Well, not necessarily, I can see slow motion without moving fast, but I can’t be fast without seeing slowly. It’s weird.”   
At that moment the waiter comes with our drinks and after we take a few sips I turn the table. “So, what were you doing with those men?”   
Jesi glances nervously into her water, then looks me straight in the eye. “Whatever I tell you, you cannot repeat a word of it to Emilynn.”   
Why shouldn't I tell my best friend? Because whatever Jesi was up to could scare and severely hurt Emilynn. But didn’t I come here because Emilynn asked me to? Isn’t she waiting at her house for me to come and tell her what happened tonight? She’s my best friend, don’t I want to protect her? Help her in every way I can? Don’t I have to be honest?   
My brain goes round and round as I try to figure out what to do. I notice Jesi watching me with interest. “Ok. Whatever you tell me, I won’t say a word to Emilynn,” I tell Jesi.   
She sighs and the story comes tumbling out, “Five months ago I found myself fired, single, and having to care for a daughter who had full trust in me. I was still stuck in depression, and I don’t believe I will ever get out of it, but I was clueless, I- I didn’t know what to do!  
“So I looked for jobs, but I never got any calls. One day my plant wasn’t doing well, so I made it tea-”   
“What?” Seriously, who gives a plant tea? What does this have to do with anything? This woman is crazy.   
“When a plant is in a pot and uses up all the nutrition's the soil can give it the best thing to do is give it tea or coffee grounds, so I gave it tea. But it grew two feet in one minute.”   
“What? What was in that tea?!” I exclaim.  
“I tried the serum on other stuff. I tried it on trees, a stray cat in my neighborhood, grass, it didn’t harm anything, it just made it stronger. When my neighbor complained about thin hair I asked her if she wanted to try my tea. She made a mistake though. I poured it on everything that had tried it, but she drank it.   
“She grew a foot, had muscles, and was strong. Before she had been very small and petite. I realized I had created a Captain America serum. I was poor. Money was running out, and I kept acting like I had a real job because I was too scared to tell Emilynn the truth. I was desperate, Lila, I asked if anyone wanted to buy it. I went underground and found a multitude of people who would buy it for high prices. Prices that would pay the bills every month.   
“The first people I met were Frank and his gang, you met them today. They told me of people who would buy my product for thousands of dollars. Too late I realized I had to get out. So I went to tell them so today. You know everything else that happened.   
“You have to understand, everything I did was for Emilynn. Her well being is the only thing I care about. If- if you told her about this it would kill her! She- she could never look at me the same way again!”   
I hold up my hand to tell her to calm down, “I made a promise, I won’t break it. If those men ever come after you again tell me. If they email you, call you, text you, I don’t know. And if you ever meet them again I will be with you. Emilynn would freak out if she knew what you were up to, but she would also freak out if you died. And if you died I would have to tell her the story, which is your job for when you're ready. Just don't wait too long, okay?”


End file.
